Seventy years ago this month, the 8th Air Force was activated in Savannah. The unit was constituted on January 19th but not formally activated until January 28th, 1942. Interestingly, the Eighth was first flagged as the Fifth Air Force. Its designation changed a few days later when it was discovered that the 5th had already been allocated to an activating Pacific Air Force. The Chatham Armory on Bull Street was selected to house the headquarters element and according to the Army's historical report, the "various units assigned to the 8th Air Force constituted the better part of all organizations" located at the nearby Savannah Army Air Base. Colonel Asa N. Duncan, then commander of the 3rd Air Support Command at Hunter, took command of the 8th. Over the next three months all training and other activities at the Savannah Army Air Base were geared towards preparing the 8th for combat service.  

Sunday February 5, 2012 

Mark your calendars! Super Museum Sunday is 

February 5, 2012, and you are in for a real treat if you are in or around the Savannah area on this date. Admission to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum is FREE all day. Bring the whole family to Super Museum Sunday, where you are sure to enjoy a tour of the museum. 

The History, Personal Stories, Cultural Impact, and Future of Military Identifiaction

A 3rd Infantry Division firing team presented a 21-gun salute on Sunday December 4, 2011, during a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941.  

Let the Mighty 8th be a part of your legacy

Support the Mighty Eighth

Follow the directions to view this video by B-24 Pilot Paul Grassey (Duration 2 minutes)

Step 1. Go to the App Store on your smartphone and download a QR Scanner for FREE!

Step 2. Scan the QR Code with your smartphone to view video.

*This video is also available on the Museum's website at www.mightyeighth.org

Restoration Project Update

Colonel Jim Munday

Jim Munday was born and raised in southern Illinois. He always had a fascination with airplanes and joined the Army Air Force in January 1942 to begin AF pilot training. In 1943, his crew was sent to England to the 384th BG at Grafton Underwood. Their B-17 was named "Paradise Lost" by the co-pilot who had been a Yale student.  On their seventh mission on Bastille Day, July 14, 1943, Jim would fly a very unforgettable mission.  While on the mission to a city near Paris, Jim's plane was flying low and in the rear section of the formation often known as "Tail-end Charlie or the Purple Heart Corner." His plane was hit twice while bombing the target. Jim's plane slowed down and lost the formation.  Being vulnerable on their own in the Nazi controlled skies, Jim knew his plane was doomed.  He tried his best to keep it airborne despite the incoming swarm of attacking FW-190's.  "Paradise Lost" and its crew were being torn apart. Jim was injured and the plane was severely damaged so he ordered the crew to bail out. After an eventful parachuting experience with the Luftwaffe fighter pilots keeping an eye on him and marking the place where he landed with a shower of bullets, Jim was now stuck in a tree with an injured knee and foot from a bullet and back that was severally cut by a branch.  A French boy helped him out of the tree and took off with the parachute so it would be harder for the Germans to spot Jim's location.  Jim hid in the forest for several days eating blackberries from a bush and drinking from a nearby stream as the Germans searched for him.  He eventually found help from a nearby farm house couple. They tended his wounds that were causing a great deal of anguish and got him help from the French Resistance.  Jim was now officially an Escape and Evader. They sneaked him to Paris where he stayed in a Resistance worker's large apartment recuperating from his wounds for several months. After his recuperation he was given forged documents and sent by train to Southern France.There he met up with his guide and group to secretly make their way over the Pyrenees to Spain. Unfortunately, his knee wound reopened and the group and guide were forced to leave him behind to make his way on his own. Eventually, he made it to Spain and the British Consulate. Jim's family received a telegram stating he was missing in action after his plane crash and did not receive word about his whereabouts until after he reached Spain. Jim returned to his family in America on Christmas Eve 1943. He was later reinstated to flying status and trained on the B-29 to fly missions in the Pacific but the war ended.  Jim stayed in the Air Force and retired a Colonel.  Jim and his wife Grace retired to her native Savannah. He has been a museum volunteer since the Museum opened.  

MISS SOPHIE: Gone to the Dogs

Teri Bell

Zygmunt Wujek's American Aviator

Edward A. Garvin (1923-2007) wears his Army Air Force uniform. He served in the 486th Bomb Group during World War II.

Living in Savannah, GA, in January 1942, Edward A. Garvin attended Savannah High School and played the French horn in the ROTC band directed by Henry J. Applewhite. Garvin remembered that on 27 January 1942 Applewhite told his band members to come to school the next day wearing their ROTC uniforms since they would be playing at a special event. Applewhite added that all should be on time since the school buses would be leaving at 10:00 a.m. sharp.

The next day, 28 January 1942, the school buses took them to the National Guard Armory on Bull Street. As soon as they arrived, they went up to the second floor with their music and instruments to prepare for the concert. They played several marches for an assembled group of about twenty-five Army officers. Garvin recalled that one of the officers read a document and then made a brief speech. At the time Garvin only paid attention to the music and added that after the closing statement all were told to take their music and instruments back to the buses to return to school. Not until several months later did Garvin realize that he had played his French horn at the activation ceremonies for the Eighth Air Force!

Later that year after graduating from high school, Garvin volunteered for the Army Air Forces and became an engine and airplane mechanic. On 23 March 1943 he became a member of the Eighth Air Force and was assigned to the 486th Bomb Group, 834th Bomb Squadron. He spent sixteen months in England working first on B-24s and later
B-17s. He made many pre-flights on these planes over England after new or rebuilt engines had been installed. As a mechanic, he constantly reminded the pilots to reduce the speed of the new engine and gradually increase the RPMs, "breaking in" the engine so it would last a little longer.

In addition to his duties as a member of the ground crew, Garvin volunteered as the base chapel organist. After missing a chapel service because of working on the line 24 hours straight, the chaplain requested that Garvin become his assistant. This request was approved by headquarters and thereafter, Garvin played for all chapel services, worked in the chaplain's office, and served as the chaplain's driver. With the end of World War II, Garvin received an honorable discharge from active duty with the Eighth Air Force on 10 October 1945. 

Creation of the 8th

by Jaime Hanna 

In honor of the 70^th anniversary of the bombing at Pearl Harbor and the subsequent creation of the Eighth Air Force, we are going to do an expanded article on the formation of the Army Air Forces, the Eighth in particular, and the pivotal role it played in triumphing in World War II.   The Eighth, which famously started out comprised of only 7 men and no planes, would become the largest Air Force in the world in less than 4 years.  This was the first time in history that full scale bomber war was used and as John Steinbeck observed, "Of all branches of the Service, the Air Force must act with the least precedent, the least tradition." (Miller, p. 30)

While several high ranking government officials advocated the need for a large, independent Air Force throughout the 1920's and 1930's, few recognized the military value aircraft offered.  In the static, trench warfare of World War I, the primary use of planes was for reconnaissance.  After the war, several military theorists around the world wrote articles and books on the potential third battlefield, the sky.  Early American advocates of air power included Henry "Hap" Arnold and General Billy Mitchell, whose zealous support would earn him a demotion and eventually, a court martial.   (In a posthumous gesture of appreciation for his foresight in military aviation, the B-25 Mitchell was later named for him - the only American military aircraft to be named after a person.)  These men felt that aerial bombardment would forever change the landscape of war.  Rather than fight defensively, this would offer an offensive strategy by leapfrogging over battlefields to drop bombs on strategic and tactical targets.  Many foresaw this as a way to shorten the duration of any future wars and decrease the number of casualties sustained.  Unfortunately, most military officials dismissed this idea as impossible as a plane that could carry a significant bomb load, and have the range to travel any distance, had yet to be invented.  

Jan 28, 1942. Eighth Air Force activated at Hunter Field with Headquarters at the Chatham Armory on Bull Street. Colonel Asa Duncan takes command and is promoted to Brigadier General on February 26. 

Jan 6, 1944. A new Eighth Air Force Headquarters emerges from VIII Bomber Command at the High Wycombe. General Spaatz becomes commander US Strategic Air Forces in Europe, Lt. Gen. James H. Doolittle becomes 8th Air Force Commander and General Eaker is given overall command in the Mediterranean. Doolittle declares that the destruction of the German fighter force would become a priority objective.